Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Russell County, Kentucky, has about 18,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Russell County Sheriff's Office and two city agencies. An arrest leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Commonwealth's Attorney files charges, a case in the Russell Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Russell County public records, Kentucky arrest records, Kentucky inmate search and Kentucky criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Russell County
The Russell County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Russell County. It reported 366 arrests for 2025.
Arrests inside two of the county's cities are reported to the FBI by an agency of the city's own, listed here with the Census population and what each reported:
- Russell Springs, 2,807 residents: 333 arrests reported for 2025.
- Jamestown, 1,884 residents: 63 arrests reported for 2024.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Russell County
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Russell County Sheriff's Office: 366 for 2025, 337 for 2024, 256 for 2023, 256 for 2022, 381 for 2021 and 304 for 2020.
- Russell Springs: 333 for 2025, 284 for 2024, 268 for 2023, 235 for 2022, 443 for 2021 and 433 for 2020.
- Jamestown: 63 for 2024, 203 for 2023, 291 for 2022, 240 for 2021, 210 for 2020 and 357 for 2019.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 699 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 699 in 2025 against 621 in 2024, up 13 percent.
Through August 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 404 arrests, against 460 in the same months of 2025.
Jamestown reported only part of 2025 (11 months) and is left out of the totals.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Russell County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Russell County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
So far in 2026 the jail has held about 78 people on an average day, down from about 130 in 2019. Its rated capacity is 82 beds, and it is running at 95 percent of it. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Russell County Sheriff's Office at russellcountydetention.com (page title: Welcome to the Russell County Detention Center), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Kentucky Department of Corrections lists its inmates at kool.corrections.ky.gov/.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Russell County
For Russell County the place to look is the case index of the Russell Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at kycourts.gov/Courts/County-Information/Pages/Russell.aspx, phone 270-343-2185).
Kentucky is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Administrative Office of the Courts, not the state police, sells name-based criminal record reports to the public, for $25 a search, through the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Russell County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act the agency must answer within 5 business days, and it may charge the actual cost of copying, 10 cents a page for standard copies.
- An arrest by the Russell County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Russell Springs or Jamestown: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Russell Circuit Court, through the court records page at kycourts.gov, phone 270-343-2185.
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The other Russell County guides go further: warrants, criminal records, court records, police reports, divorce records and property records.
Cities in Russell County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for every one of the two cities in Russell County: Russell Springs and Jamestown.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Russell Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Russell County each year?
The Russell County Sheriff's Office reported 366 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 699 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Russell County?
Ask the Russell County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at russellcountydetention.com.
Where are people arrested in Russell County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Russell County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Russell County?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts: the Administrative Office of the Courts, not the state police, sells name-based criminal record reports to the public, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Russell County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Russell County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the Kentucky Open Records Act the answer is due within 5 business days.
Is this the official Russell County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.